Screenshot via CSPAN
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has walked back his stunning claim that President Donald Trump was an FBI informant on the Jeffrey Epstein case.
In recent months, the political world has been rocked by renewed interest in the case of the convicted sex trafficker. This came as a result of Trump’s Department of Justice — led by Attorney General Pam Bondi — concluding the rumored list of Epstein clients did not actually exist.
Bondi previously insisted the list was on her desk, leading some to speculate that the administration was trying to cover up the case.
Trump, a pal friend of Epstein’s, has tried to distance himself from the situation. In those efforts, he’s repeatedly called any attempt to connect him to the case a “hoax” concocted by the Democratic Party.
On Friday, Johnson suddenly told CNN’s Manu Raju that the president was acting as an informant:
What Trump is referring to is the hoax that the Democrats are using to try to attack him. He has never said or suggested or implied—I’ve talked to him about this many times, many times. He is horrified. It’s been misrepresented. He’s not saying that what Epstein did is a hoax. It’s a terrible, unspeakable evil. He believes that himself. When he first heard the rumor, he kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago. He was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down.
Two days later, however, he walked those comments back. In a statement obtained by The Washington Post, Johnson’s office said:
The Speaker is reiterating what the victims’ attorney said, which is that Donald Trump — who kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago — was the only one more than a decade ago willing to help prosecutors expose Epstein for being a disgusting child predator.
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